This course was produced by the Algae Technology Educational Consortium and UC San Diego with funding from the Algae Foundation, the National Renewable Energy Lab, and the U.S. Department of Energy.
Algae are an extremely diverse group of organisms that can be found in almost every ecosystem on the planet, and they play an essential role for life on earth. They are little bio-factories that use the process of photosynthesis to create chemical compounds that we can utilize for food, feed, medicine, and even energy. We’ve brought together some of foremost algae experts from industry and academia to teach you the fundamentals of algae. This course will cover what algae are, why they are important, and why we are interested in them for both their environmental benefit, as well as their use for products. You will also explore the vast diversity of algae including the characteristics and applications of some of the main types of algae that are in commercial use today. Later you will learn about algal ecology and how interactions with environment, including pests and predators, affect algal productivity. And finally you will examine the processes of algae bio-manufacturing including production processes, as well as some of the products, benefits, and challenges that impact our ability to make commercially viable products from algae.
MK
this is cool, i wish could open an edible macroalgae oil extraction factory as my vision is to open a strat-up, thank you coursera and all the instructor for brought the course for free.
PG
Very interesting and inspiring course! So cool to learn about the history and great diversity of algae, as well as the potential uses of algae in renewable energy and for sustainable materials.
AM
I wish there was an option that I could see the captions (the sentences that the speaker spoke) during the presentations like watching TV with the CC is on... Just a suggestion.
WZ
first, thank you so much for all professors and assistants. it is really amazing I like it so much. plz update and focus more on algal biotechnology and genetic engineering for this field.
BS
Great introductory course. Excellent use of many subject-matter experts to cover broad topics from evolution and ecology, to biochemistry and biomanufacturing challenges.
VV
It is very good to have additional course like this which makes us even more informative and keep us on learning.Good to know about this course its really a useful oneThank u
MS
Many of the concepts delivered in the course spreads an in depth knowledge in phycology. All the topics were equally informative without repetition of the concepts.
RW
great course.I would have liked more information about macroalgae but I found the information on microalgae very interesting. I enjoyed all the different presenters. Thank you
MC
Incredibly helpful to someone wanting to study ecological sciences at university! I highly recommend you complete the course as it doesn't take long. I very much enjoyed it. With love from the UK!
FK
The course provided my first babysteps into the world of kelps/seaweed & was very interesting. However I would have loved to see a more clear split between micro & macroalgae.
AA
Excellent course but one suggestion if possible to consider. It could be quite beneficial to add animations to aid the receiver to understand and visualize the ideas being discussed.
AM
It's a beautifully explained intro to algae course which definitely motivates one to go further and learn more about the vast diversity of algae and the products one can get from them.
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An exceptional introduction I must say. I am an BS Aquaculture from URI and an oyster hatchery manager and was more than satisfied with the curriculum and the expertise of the speakers. I would greatly encourage a follow-up course.
This is extremely knowledgeable course to me as i'm Biotechnology undergraduate student and wants to gain information about my project that is about algae so it'll be helpful to me in my project and also the material used in lectures is too good and the teachers are also superb thanks all of you to give me chance to learn and apply and thankx Coursera for amazing site for studious student who wants to learn in a peaceful environment so thankyou once again...
one of the best course to know everything about algae. I recommend all people who decided to work on algae pass this course. I learnt about different aspects of algae and seaweed. thanks Coursera.
I am Ph.D. in algae biotechnology and I have a good experience in cultivation, dewatering, harvesting of algae biomass along with biofuel production of algae, but this course has really helped to understand the novel updates in the field of algal biotechnology, especially the harvesting and production of polyurethane, etc. I would really recommend this course to all the students of bioprocess technology, botany, biotechnology, and chemistry students. The information and knowledge are really helping to understand key nuisances in the whole process and develop a through concept. I am happy to complete the course. Thanks for the whole team of UC San Diego and Coursera for such amazing work.
An excellent detail introduction covering the details of algae
evolution, algae bio- chemistries & structures, algae cultivation, harvesting, producer methods, products and applications.
A good course however, it has a beginner level rather than an intermediate one
I'm the lover of algae, Hence I took this course which gives more insights to know about starting from lifecycle to product development...…which is same like as our child birth in humans....I enjoyed and I'm feeling more passion to undergo this course. I strongly recommend all to take this course....don't miss this awesome oppturnity to know about the most abundant resource which available surrounding us....
Last but not least..by taking this course I'm having more insights to become entrepreneur and developing products from algae. Thanks to UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO Professors ..
Looking forward more advanced form of course related to algae. Thank you...
I kindly request the team to post the answer for below question. II need answer for one of the quiz which I feel very bad not to answer. the question was
What is the energy source that phototrophic organism used to create food?
Great coruse, very professional and charismatic teachers. The first three weeks were awesome but the last two were a little bit boring. It's agreat course for anyone interested in algae as an industrial organism
Muy bien explicado, pienso que te da un panorama bien definido sobre el cultivo de algas (con mayor enfásis en microalgas) y las diferentes etapas que se tienen. Un gusto llevar este curso.
I wish there was an option that I could see the captions (the sentences that the speaker spoke) during the presentations like watching TV with the CC is on... Just a suggestion.
The lectures are, ironically, very dry. Most of them could have just provided the powerpoint instead of the video. I wanted to learn more about the biology and natural ecology of algae, but those parts seemed rushed. The course might have been less disappointing if it was more clearly labeled as an introduction to algae-based industry, because that is the emphasis. This course isn't fun. There's none of the wonder or excitement that I associate with science, especially biology. It's biology as a means to an end (and that end is just boring Products). I'm giving this course two stars because it wasn't overtly offensive, I did learn a couple things, and I did finish it. But I only finished it because it was so short.
Not what I had expected- I was looking for biological algae intro, and this was an industrial application of algae course. Interesting I guess, but not what I was wanting.
Very interesting and inspiring course! So cool to learn about the history and great diversity of algae, as well as the potential uses of algae in renewable energy and for sustainable materials.
first, thank you so much for all professors and assistants. it is really amazing I like it so much. plz update and focus more on algal biotechnology and genetic engineering for this field.
It was an interesting (and generally in-depth) introductory course. Recommended to take good notes!
One downside of the course -- there are a few times, when the lecturers do not really explain things well enough (Ex: there was a lecturer who did not explain how a "Zobi Harvester" worked in-depth; And because he was a leader of the company that invented the "Zobi Harvester", it seemed as if he was merely turning that specific Coursera lecture into an advertisement!)
I had several questions that I posted in the discussion forums. None of the instructors responded. I even tried to contact them through email. No response.
Hey anyone who is reading this! I went to school for biology, specializing in Botany and then Phycology (Study of algae). I wanted to take this course and see what I thought of it and I can say I'm happy with what I took! Everything I did know I felt was a fair to wonderful coverage of algae and definitely is a perfect first step into the world of algae. I love how they ended the series off on a practical look at what algae is used for in an industrial setting to help people get an idea of what looking down a career path for it would be. Two small things to correct and they are only grammatical (So, do not take this as a condemnation of the class. WONDERFUL class) 1. Algae is the plural version, Alga the singular. Many of not all of the instructors seemed to get this wrong No big deal, but worth pointing out. (I think some got it wrong with Bacteria as well, which is the plural and Bacterium being the singular). 2. Charophycean algae was pronounced with a Ch sound like chocolate when it confusingly actually has the hard C-K sound like can or kale. These two corrections are MINOR. Loved the class! Highly recommend! Please, if you are looking at this course with curiosity take it and even if you don't get the certificate you will walk away with a better understanding of algae. Sincerely Timothy Richard Rockwell timr.rockwell@gmail.com www.linkedin.com/in/Timothy-Rockwell
Excelente curso, lo tome ya que estoy en un proyecto de NSF en donde tenemos un laboratorio de algas. Resume muy bien los temas generales de las algas, y tiene un contenido muy instructivo y beneficioso para cualquiera que este comenzando o ya tenga conocimiento de algas. El nivel de dificultad es intermedio, solo necesitas saber un poco de biología y la célula para entender todo a la perfección. Me encanto el curso. Los profesores son de excelente calidad, recursos muy reconocidos en el tema de las algas.
Kariana Feliciano
Research LabTech NSF Proposal, Inter American University of Puerto Rico, Barranquitas Campus. Marine Biotechnology Laboratory
The course was a fantastic introduction to algae, covering the basic biology, ecology to commercial applications ! Highly recommended as an eye-opener for those, like me, who want to contribute to creating a much more sustainable world for our future generations. The course should be not be viewed just at academic "face value", but as a starting point on what game-changing biotechnologies can do to change our vision, attitudes and mission for the planet. As a global business consultant, it has motivated me even more to promote green-tech/ clean-tech.
Many thanks to UC San Diego and everyone involved for your inspiration !
Maroi Shoji
As a life science educator, I really enjoyed the focus of this course and learned alot about the ecology of Algae. The engineering techniques used in bio-prospecting and manufacturing were especially interesting for me. I'm looking forward to including some of this content in my Living Planet course at SVA.
Although some lectures were technical and the slides were sometimes hard to view on the on-line format, I think the final quiz questions posed were excellent and help understand a bigger picture about Algal biodiversity and its uses.